Cool jazz blended with the fire of flamenco, rock with the soul of samba, funk with the heart of country, this is a raucous "World-Jazz" mix of instrumental tastes featuring the guitar and keyboard talents of two Alaskan-French-Basque-Viking brothers.

14 MP3 Songs
WORLD: World Fusion, JAZZ: World Fusion

Show all album songs: The Homecoming Songs


Details:
The savage, untamed Viking, hopelessly long-lost at sea, crashes his ship on a rocky beach in the far northland of Alaska⦠Though nearly starved and crazed from his Odyssean voyage, he summons his remaining mortal strength and, with a violent effort, leaps onto the icy shore, wielding his battle-axe of choice, a Dean Bel-Air electric guitar.

But instead of defiant local villagers, heâs met by the distant pounding of Inuit drums and the eerie echoes of an accordion which float across the land. Off in the distance he sees a lone figure approaching, a thin specter in black, capped with a Basque beret.

âWelcome, O friend of Valhalla,â the mystic figure greets him. âI see clearly that you are a warrior of great strength and courage. Join me in my crusade against aesthetic turpitude! Let us fight together the monotony of mundane art! Let us make jazz with the fire of flamenco, rock with the soul of samba, funk with the heart of country⦠Let us blend the expanse of the north with the warmth of the south, let us bring the exotic tropics to the lush Pacific Northwest! And may all wonder and rejoice at this new sound on earthâ¦â

With great joy, the Viking realizes that he has at last found his true calling. âMy brother,â he cries, âin your ancient tongue I say to you, Garean gareana legez!â (âLet us be what we are!â) And thus is born The Brothers Bidondo...


OK, so in reality it was all slightly less prosaic than that: Brothers and professional musicians, Pierre Bidondo (guitarist) and Craig Bidondo (keyboardist) grew up with a shared heritage and love of music. But as adults, with Pierre in their home state of Alaska and Craig eventually resettling in Oregon, theyâd had few chances to create music together since they were kids.

Several years ago they decided that Pierre would make yearly visits to Craigâs studio, and they would do a CD together of instrumental music they had written. Itâs taken them six years of traveling back and forth (as well as the assistance of several great musician-friends, including drummer Graham Lear and engineer Dean Baskerville) to complete the whole thing.

Whatâs the result? A raucous World-Jazz fling, a mixture of samba, âcool jazzâ, bossa nova, rock, reggae, R&B, flamenco, blues, folk, âsmooth jazzâ, country, and classical influences, all filtered through their Alaskan-French-Basque-Viking passion, humor and outlook on life. All in all, itâs The Brothers Bidondo⦠being who they are and doing what they love.